Apparatus for oxidation of finely-subdivided material



W, N. BEST. APPARATUS FOR OXIDATION OF FINELY SUBDIVIDED MATERIAL.APPLICATI ON FILED JUNE 4,1920.

1,397,792, Patented Nov. 22, 1921.

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I for instance, by gravity through a chute,

WILLIAM N. IBEST, BROOKLYN, YORK.

APEARATUS FOR OXIDATION OF FINELY-SUBDIVIDED MATERIAL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 22, 1921.

Original application filed. February 8, 1919, Serial No. 275,682.Divided and this application filed June 4, 1920. Serial No. 386,646.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM N. Bns'r, a citizen of the United States,and resident of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus forOxidation of Finely-Subdividcd Material, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to apparatus for the oxidation of pulverulent orother finely sub-divided material and has for its main object to moreefi'ectively bring the finely sub-divided material into intimate contactwith a gaseous heating medium and a gaseous oxidizing agent.

This application is a division of my prior application Serial No.275,682, filed Feb. 8, 1919, and in which the process is claimed.

So far as my improved apparatus is concerned, I do not wish to belimited to any particular finely sub-divided material nor to thecharacter of the resultant product of the process employed In carryingout my in vention I use a burner or liquid fuel atomizer which will givea substantially flat spray of vapor of a liquid or semi-liquid fuel suchas oil or tar, by means of an atomizing jet of compressed air or steam.Air for supporting the combustion of this liquid fuel is deliveredpreferably under comparatively low pressure adjacent to the spray so asto produce a substantially fiat fan-shaped flame. The material which isto be oxidized is delivered mechanically as trough, or conduit and insuitably regulated quantities. The point of delivery of the finelysub-divided solid material is directly above the flat fan-shaped flameso that said material falls into and through the flame and is highlyheated by the latter and is oxidized by the current of air which issupplied not only for such oxidation but for the supporting of thecombastion of the finely sub-divided liquid fuel.

C ne of the main objects of my invention is to more efiectively utilizecoal dust, culm, screenings, or other solid fuel existing in largequantities in a finely subdivided state. I am aware that such finelysub-divided solid fuel has been 'used in furnaces by blowing or sprayingit into the combustion chamher in which a fluid fuel is also burned butso far as I am aware no one has heretofore proposed permitting suchfinely sub-divided SOlICl mater al to fall through a fan-shaped flame ofa llquid fuel atomized by a gaseous medium so that the solid fuel isboth highly heated and the combustible portions completely oxidized.With this improved arrangement, the furnace may be first heated solelyby the burning of the spray of liquid fuel and the additional fuel toproduce the addltwnal heat may be delivered either con tinuously or atsuch times as may be desired, to the fan-shaped flame.

A further object of my invention is to provlde a simple, effective, andinexpensive apparatus for the-oxidizing of. such finely sub-d1v1dedmaterials as result in solid o nds rather than gaseous oxids likecarbon- (llOXlCl. My invention is particularly applicable for use 1n theproducing of copper ox1d from finely sub-divided copper. The finelysub-divided copper or other metal or material to be oxidized isdelivered to and permitted to fall through the fanshaped flame and theoxidizing air and is completely, thoroughly and uniformlv oxidlzed/ athigh temperature before it falls to and collects on the bottom of thefur nace or in other suitable collection chambers. Materials other thancopper which produce solid oxids and materials other than coal dustwhich produce gaseous oxids, may be employed in my improved apparatus.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated certain essentials of anapparatus embodying myinvention.

In these drawings:

Figure 1 is a central vertical section through a portion of an apparatusshowing the burner or liquid atomizer in one position, and

Fig. 2 is-a view similar to a portion of Fig. l but showing the burneror atomizer in an inverted position.

in these drawings, I have illustrated a portion of a furnace 10 having acombustion chamber 11. This furnace may be of any desired form, shape,or character, depending entirely upon the material to be heated by theheat of the furnace or the materialto be oxidized in the flame. Oppositeto the entrance to the combustion chamber 1 employ a burner 0r atomizer12 having a delivery passage 13 for oil, tar, or other liquid orsemi-liquid fuel and a' steam, compressed air, or other-gaseous orassage 14- for" the conduit 20. These closure sections may the inletopening to the pipe 20.

fluid atomizing medium. The outlets from these passages are sojuxtaposed that the esca e of the atomizing medium delivers the liquidfuel in a substantially fan-shaped sheet or spray. The outlet from thepassage 14 is formed between the body of the burner and a separatemember 15. The two passages may be connected up to suitable sources ofsupply of the two fluid mediums by pipes 16 and 17. The burner or liquidfuel atomizer may be constructed in accordance with any one of myvarious prior patents, as for instance, 708,453 of September 2, 1902,and 752,195 of February 16, 1904. Below the burner or atomizer is anozzle 18 for delivering the low pressure combustion supporting gaseousmedium, such as'air.

In connection with this mechanism, I employ a receptacle 19 which may bein the form of a hopper or of any desired shape, size, or form and fromwhich a conduit'20 extends to a delivery nozzle or outlet 21. This ispositioned slightly above the plane of the fan-shaped flame, said planebeing indicated approximately by the line A in Figs. 1 and 2, and it isspaced a short distance from the outlet for the expansive medium whichdelivers and distributes the liquid fuel. In order to secure asubstantially continuous delivery of the finely sub-divided material,such as coal dust, metallic copper,

or other oxidizable material, to break up.

any largechunks in the receptacle, and to keep the conduit from cloggingup, I provide some suitable form of mechanical a'gitating and feedingmeans. Merely as an example of such means, I have shown a reciprocatingplunger rod 22 connected to an eccentric strap 23 of an eccentric 24,which latter is secured to and rotated by a shaft 25 above the hopper.The lower end of the rod 22 may be roughened or recessed or providedwith pockets 'orother surface irregularities and terminates within theportion of the conduit 20 connected to the hopper. The rotation of theeccentric gives the rod both a reciprocating movement within the conduitand a slight lateral movement so as to effectively deliver material fromthe hopper to the conduit. The rate of delivery may be controlled notonly by varying the speed of the shaft 25 but also by controlling I haveshown a pair of closure sections 26-26 slidably mounted on the bottom ofthe hopper upon opposite sides of the rod 22, and extending part wayacross the inlet end of be adjusted toward and from each other in anysuitable manner, as for instance, by screw threaded engagement withshaft sections 27 having operating handles or cranks 28 and held againstlongitudinal movement by nuts upon opposite sides of supporting brackets29.

The relative positions of the burner and the delivery nozzle for thesolid material may be varied dependent upon the character of the furnaceand the character of the liquid and solid materials oxidized therein. InFig. 2 I have shown a construction involving the same structuralelements as in Fig. 1 but have shown the burner or atom- "or screen itto pass through a 100, 150, or

200- mesh but coarser or finer material may be employed.

Although I have shown the solid material delivered to the flame orliquid fuel spray solely by the action of gravity, it will of.

course be understood that other delivering means might be employed.Although under ordinary circumstances the combustion supporting gaseousmedium is air under comparatively low pressure, as for instance, from ablower, yet it will of course be understood that other means forsupplying such combustion supporting medium might be employed or thatthe fan-shaped flame might be so positioned that a sufficient amount ofcombustion supporting air would be automatically taken directly from theatmosphere without the necessity for the delivery nozzle 18. Under somespecial circumstances I might employ oxygen of any de sired purityinstead of ordinaryair.

. Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. An apparatus of the character described, including a burner oratomizer for delivering a substantially flat fan-shaped spray of liquidfuel in substantially hori-.

zontal direction, means for delivering combustion supporting air beneathsaid spray, and means for delivering a finely sub-divided solid materialabove said spray and permitting it to drop substantially vertically intothe flame.

2. In combination, a combustion chamber, an atomizing nozzle fordelivering a substantially flat fan-shaped spray of liquid fuel intosaid chamber, a solid fuel receptacle, a conduit leadin from saidreceptacle and through which t e solid material may move by gravity andbe delivered at a point above said spray, an agitator and feeder movablevertically within the upper part of said conduit, and means for varyingthe effective size of the inlet to said conduit around said agitator andfeeder.

3. In combination, a combustion chamber, an atomizing nozzle fordelivering a substantially fiat fan-shaped spray of liquid fuel intosaid chamber, areceptacle for finely N sub-divided solid materialdisposed above said nozzle, a conduit extending downwardly 10 from saidreceptacle and terminating in advance ofsaid nozzle, whereby said solidmaterial may fall by gravity into said s ray, and reciprocating meansoperating within said conduit for feeding material therethrough.

Signed at New York city in the county of ew York and State of New Yorkthis 21st day of May, A. D. 1920.

WILLIAM N. BEST.

